Breaking Barriers
by rubydemonknife
Summary: Ruby has been a hunter her entire life. After her family of hunters was killed, she swore that she would never hunt with another. When she meets Sam and Dean Winchester repeatedly, she sees herself starting to like the boys and hunting with them starts to become a pleasure. The spark between her and Sam is instant. But will she open herself up to the possibilities? {AU Hunter!Ruby}
1. The meeting

The first time Ruby meets Sam and Dean Winchester, she is saving their lives. The vampire would have turned them both. They should be thanking their sorry asses that she arrived when he was going to look for another victim.

Her boots clink against the concrete of the floor to the cellar. She looks around and notices two men strung up but their wrists, feet barely grazing the floor. One is tall and lanky looking and the other is shorter and more muscular. The taller one has hair that falls into his eyes. There are no visible marks to show a turning and she thinks that it's safe to help them. She pushes the taller one's shoulder roughly and his eyes slowly open and rest on her.

"You're not one of them." his voice is quiet and controlled, looking around the room, assessing the situation.

"I'm the one that kills things like them." she pushes a piece of hair out of her face as she hastily unties him. "Get out of here." she doesn't notice the long blade on the table.

"I'm a hunter too." he says as he pushes past her to get to his partner, looking for any signs of a bite. She looks at him apprehensively.

"I'm Sam Winchester." she passes a knife to him and he unties the other man's rope. He shakes him and after a moment the other man begins to stir as well. "And this is Dean."

"Sammy, who the fuck is this?" Ruby straightens her back and glares. He is not giving her a good first impression.

"I'm the girl that just saved your ass." Sam grins at her and she smirks back. But the three of them simultaneously hear a door open and their eyes flicker between them before she is passing out blades from her bag their way.

The job is down quickly and she packs up her things as the boys burn the body. "So are you two like, together?" she quirks an eyebrow at them and Dean makes a disgusted noise at the back of his throat. She wonders if its from the fact that she is talking to them or if it is because he is disgusted by the notion of being with the taller and better looking hunter.

"We're brothers." Sam explains. Her mouth forms an 'O' shape and she nods.

As she goes to bring her bag outside, Dean is watching the flames and she hears another body following her.

"How long have you been hunting?" he asks.

She lets out a sigh and takes off her leather jacket, exposing her milky arms to the warm night air. She could not remember a life without hunting. Her whole family had been hunters, before they were killed off in a vicious demon attack that left Ruby alone to fend for her own devices. "It's the only life I have ever known. The only life my parents and their parents before them knew." She loves her work and she knows it. She could never imagine herself doing anything else. Some people would dream for the white picket fence and children but she dreams of killing as many demons and monsters as possible.

"Dean and I are going to check out a possible poltergeist problem in Vermont if you want to come with us?"

She leans her weight onto one hit, tilting her head and looking at him with an expression that he can't identify.


	2. Complications

"The Devil's Gate has been opened." she hears one of her informants on the end of the phone and the words almost knock the wind out from under her. "The Winchester boys let it get open."

Ruby drops the coffee cup she had been holding and lukewarm liquid spills on the wooden floor as the cup shatters. "Those dumbasses!" She hangs up and throws the phone against the wall, watching it snap into two pieces. She looks at the shotgun on the wall and knows that she now has much more work than before.

Looks like her vacation was over.

She had just finished up an exorcism in the outskirts of Kansas when she gets the call from Sam Winchester. Its been months since she had even heard his name, months since the gate had been opened. "Ruby?" his voice on the end of the line nearly stops her heart for a moment. She was sure he would have died when the gate was opened. Wouldn't they?

"Sam." she forgets for a moment how undeniably mad she is at him, how frustrated she is that there are now hundreds of more demons for them to worry about. "What do you want?"

"I want your help." his voice sounds scared and she's automatically worried.

"What is it?"

"Dean made a deal."

She couldn't contain the gasp that came up through her throat. She didn't particularly like Dean, but she felt bad. She knew what happened to those who made deals. They died and went straight to hell. Their bodies were scratched up and dismembered by Hell Hounds. Dean was a done for.

"What was the deal for?"

She isn't surprised when she hears Sam mutter back "My life."

She lets out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry Sam." he must know that there is nothing she could do. "Why did you call me?" she can hear the breath leave his system and at that moment she would do anything for him, help him in any way she could. But there was no way.

Dean was going to Hell.

"I thought you could help me." he admitted, the defeated tone to his voice hard to miss.

"I'm not a magician, Sam. Why me?"

"I exhausted my other sources and started calling Bobby's contacts."

She lets the conversation fall dead for a moment. "Where are you?"

"Bobby's."

She makes a split decision. It would take her twelve hours to get there from her home but she could do it. "I'll be there soon." and the line goes dead as she hangs up. She knows there is nothing she can do, but she could be there for Sam.

It takes her fourteen hours with packing time and food time before she makes it to Bobby's that afternoon. The cars and junk are familiar and it was like she was transported into a time when the loss of her family was a new wound and Bobby helped her through it, offering quick words of understanding between telling her to 'stop being a waste of space' and to 'go kill something.'

She sees three familiar figures on the porch and all she takes with her is an overnight bag with a rock salt filled gun and a long blade along with some clothes.

"Ruby. You didn't have to come all this way for my going away party." Dean's voice is the first thing she hears when she gets close enough. Sam shoots him a dirty look. She smiles sympathetically.

"I just wanted to be the first to dance on your grave." are the first words that come out of her mouth. His smirk only increases.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"Then help her with her stuff, ya idjit."

Thank you Bobby. When Dean is taking her bag into the house and Bobby follows, she is alone with Sam.

"How are you doing?"

He lets out a groan and looks at her, eyes as beautiful as when they first met. "How do you think?"

She hoisted herself on the banister of the porch, her legs dangling. She still doesn't make it close to his height. She doesn't realize that she is leaning closer to him as she starts speaking. "When I was eighteen, my whole family was killed by a demon called Alistair. He tortured them all for a week before killing them. I was on a job with a friend and I missed it. When I came back to our house, they were dead. They're bodies were rotting in my living room." she tries to keep her voice steady, but she makes a choking noise and Sam looks at her.

"I'm alone too." She notices him visibly straighten and she realized how close they had been a moment before.

"I'm not alone." his eyes turn to slits and he turns, stumbling into the house.

She feels bad for him. He still hasn't accepted that his brother is going to die. She was going to help him through it.

_The little hunter on his shoulder, guiding him through grief. _


End file.
